Garment-stay.



D. SCHULBR. GARMENT STAY. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.9,1910.

WI NES ES INVENTOR md/n/ I TINTTED TATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID SCHULER, OF KERR'IOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE SPIRELLA COMPANY, OF MEADVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

GARMENT-STAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

Application filed September 9, 1910. Serial No. 581,158.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID SOHULER, a resident of Kerrtown, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Garment-Stays, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire springs and more particularly to springs for use as gar ment stays and the like.

The object is to provide a spring which is perfectly yielding and flexible in all directions, which is so constructed that the.

bending stresses cannot be concentrated at any point or points, so as to avoid crystallization and breakage, and which will not readily take a permanent set.

The invention comprises a spring as hereinafter described "and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is an enlarged face view of a portion of a garment stay embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof; and Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 33, Fig. 1.

The stay-as illustrated is formed from a single wire which is bent to form a series of eyes or loops lying successively and alternately on opposite side edges of the stay. The crossings 5 are bent in the plane of the stay out of a straight transverse line, as shown, adjacent crossings being bent in opposite directions, as shown, so as to form at the longitudinal median line of the stay a series of openings 6. As a consequence, the stay when viewed flatwise has the appearance of three parallel rows of loops or eyes. The eyes or loops 3 along one edge of the stay are closed by reason of the wire crossing at the points 4:, and in case of the eyes or loops 2, while they are closed, the wire forming each such loop does not cross but merely overlaps at the points 9 along the longitudinal median line of the stay. The loops or eyes 2 preferably overlap as at 7, and the eyes 3 also preferably overlap as at 8. In order to secure such overlapping it is necessary that the eyes or loops be tilted out of the plane of the stay, thereby giving the stay a shingled appearance when viewed edgewise. On account of the crossing of the wire to form the closed eyes 3 the eyes at the two edges of the stay are tilted in the same direction. The overlapping of the eyes or loops affords a mutual support or bracing one on another when the structure is bent flatwise, thereby preventing short bending and consequent crystallization, and it also permits the eyes or loops to slide past each other when the structure is flexed edgewise, thereby making it very yielding or elastic against edgewise bending stresses. The eyes or loops may be in contact at the point of overlap or merely in close juxtaposition so that they contact when the stay is abnormally flexed. By having the crossings deflected from a straight transverse line a longer length of wire is put into a given length of finished structure, thereby rendering the structure more flexible. Such deflection of the crossing also places a portion of the wire in the crossings at an angle to a straight transverse line, so that in flatwise bending the crossings take care of the stresses partly by a torsion or twisting yielding and partly by a simple transverse bending. Consequently, while the greater length of wire due to such deflection of the crossings tends to give the structure greater flexibility or less stiffness against edgewise bending it increases its stiffness against flatwise bending. The structure as a whole when used as a corset or other garment stay is also preferably given a concavo-convex form in cross section, as shown in Fig. 8, which not only makes the structure stifl'er as a whole, but makes it stiffer against stresses tending to bend it toward the convex side than against stresses tending to bend it in the opposite direction. The structure may also be used as a tension or extension spring, such, for instance, as in bracelets, garters, and other articles where a light very flexible extension spring is desired. When used as a spring it is not necessary, nor desirable, to concave the structure longitudinally.

That I claim is:

1. A garment stay comprising wire bent to form oppositely disposed eyes or loops, the crossings being deflected in the plane of the stay out of a straight transverse line, adjacent crossings being deflected in opposite directions, the crossings of each loop or eye along one edge of the stay overlapping each other, and the crossings of each loop or eye along the other edge of the stay crossing each other.

2. A garment stay comprising wire bent to form oppositely disposed eyes or loops, the crossings being deflected in the plane of the stay out of a straight transverse line, ad-

jac-ent crossings being deflected in opposite directions, the crossings of each loop or eye along one edge of the stay being bent toward each other, and the crossings of each loop or eye along the other edge of the stay cross ing each other.

3. A garment stay comprising Wire bent to form oppositely disposed eyes or loops, the crossings being deflected in the plane of the stay out of a straight transverse line, adjacent crossings being deflected in opposite directions, the crossings of each loop or eye along one edge of the stay being bent toward each other, and the crossings of each loop or eye along the other edge of the stay crossing each other, and adjacent eyes or loops along both edges of the stay overlapping each other.

4. A garment stay comprising Wire bent to form oppositely disposed eyes or loops forming the edges of the stay, the eyes on one edge of the stay being formed by crossing the Wire, the transverse portions or crossings being curved and deflected in the plane of the stay out of a straight transverse line, adjacent transverse portions or crossings being deflected in opposite directions, adjacent eyes or lo'ops overlapping each other along the edges of the stay, and adjacent crossings overlapping each other along substantially the longitudinal median line of the stay.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

DAVID SOHULER. lVitnesses M. M. BEEMAN, J. H. Pannnn.

co ies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). C. 

